Wednesday, April 3, 2013

"It was the Most Perfect Day"

September 11, 2001
It was the Most Perfect Day 
 
Contributed by Cristina Bonner:

 
Timeline of the 9/11 Attacks

              On September 11, 2001, nineteen al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial US jetliners. Los Angeles bound Flight 11 departs at 7:59 AM. The flight is hijacked at approximately 8:14 AM and began heading towards Manhattan. Another Los Angeles bound Flight 175 departed at 8:14 AM and was hijacked at approximately 8:45 AM by five al Qaeda terrorists and rerouted towards Manhattan. At 8:20 AM Flight 77 departs Washington Dulles International Airport en route to Los Angeles. At 8:42 AM Flight 93 departs Newark Airport. At 8:46 AM, Flight 11 crashes into floors 93-99 of the World Trade Center’s North Tower killing everyone on board. Within seconds, the New York Fire Department and Police Department dispatch units to the scene. At 8:55 AM the people in the South Tower are told the building is secure and are instructed to remain in the building. Seven minutes later they are ordered to evacuate. At 9:03 AM, Flight 175 crashes into the World Trade Center’s South Tower into floors 77 through 85. After these two crashes, there were evacuation orders for the World Trade Center, the New York City Office of Emergency Management, and the evacuation of Vice President Dick Cheney. At 9:37 AM Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagons western side killing everyone on board. Five minutes later, the Federal Aviation Authority grounds all flights over or bound for continental US. At 9:57 AM many of Flight 93’s passengers alert relatives of the hijacking and decide to try to overpower the hijackers. At 9:59 AM the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. At 10:03 AM, hijackers on Flight 93 crash the plane into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania to prevent the passengers from retaking the airplane. At 10:15 AM, the Pentagon’s E Ring, the outermost offices, collapses. At 10:28 Am, the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses. On this day alone, nearly 3,000 people died and over 6,000 were injured. 

Interview:

Below is an interview with  Chris Bonner. At the time of the attacks he was 36 years old and working in the air-conditioning and heating business. Here is is his 9/11 experience:

Interview with Chris Bonner:
Before we begin tell us a bit about yourself.
 My name is Chris Bonner. I am in the air-conditioning and heating business. I am the father of five. I went to Union Catholic and graduated in 1983 and I went to New York University and graduated in 1987 with a business degree and management.

If you recall, what was security like in airports before 9/11?
It was relatively nonexistent. It was basically there to control arguments, a rambunctious person, or maybe a fight here and there. I remember way back in 1982, my brother moved to Atlanta and I went down to help him move and do some work on his house, I lived up here in New Jersey. I was able to have a skill saw in my carry-on.

What was your occupation during the year 2001?
All through college I was a sheet metal worker in the union. I fabricated and installed HVAC from the age of 17 to the age I am now, 48.

What were your plans for the day of September 11, 2001?
I remember specifically. I was asked to meet someone in Jersey City to go to a meeting. Actually I had two meetings, one was at Five World Trade Center which was at 1 in the afternoon and I had a meeting on Broadway two blocks over from the World Trade Center. Normally, I’m out and about at 5:30 in the morning to get in the city, to beat traffic and meet people, but I had to take care of one of my sons. So, I changed the meetings to 9:00 AM in Jersey City and one of the others to 10:30 at the World Trade Center.

Do you remember anything about the day?
It was the most perfect day you could picture in September. The temperature was not cold, the skies were perfectly clear.

I know you said you were going into New York for a meeting, did you see either tower get hit? If so, what was your reaction?
I actually did, but I did not know what I was looking at. I was stuck in a tremendous amount of traffic on the turnpike bridge leading to the Holland Tunnel. Normally there wasn’t that much traffic, I believe it was due to the Tunnel being shut down. I was talking to my sister-in-law on the phone and I was looking across Jersey City, kind of aimlessly, not thinking of what I was looking at and I said to her “Oh my goodness! I have never seen this in all my years. I just saw a smoke stack start.” You know, you always see smoke stacks across the skyline or in the city. I saw a little bit of some coming out of the smoke stack. Then I looked closer and I said to my sister-in-law “Holy cow! Turn on the news, my radio’s not working!” A plane must have hit the World Trade Center, because there’s smoke coming out. I was actually staring at it. I probably saw it fly in and I didn’t realize it. By the time I got off of that bridge, I was very much in a panic. The actual aura of everybody around was not panic, because people didn’t realize exactly what had happened. There is no way people thought it was a terrorist. It was first reported as a small twin-engine plane hitting the WTC. So people were just trying to get out of the way. Then, we realized what happened. So I made an illegal U-turn around a divider as many people did and headed back towards home.

After you found out that the towers were hit, and later the Pentagon, and then the other plane crashing into a field in Pennsylvania…what did you do?
I made it home and I knew all my kids were safe, they were all in the same school right down the street from our house. By the time I had gotten into my house I had witnessed on the TV, live, the second tower fall and I went to church and said a prayer, because I had absolutely no idea what to think at the time. My mind was pretty much blank. It wasn’t a feeling of panic it was more of a feeling of what is going on and what is going to happen next? I went to work finished the day working and getting jobs together, because a lot of stuff didn’t stop. I actually had a couple workers trapped in New York for that night. I communicated with them and it was just a very weird thing to look up at a clear blue sky in New Jersey the entire day and you didn’t see any airplanes. If you look up today, you’ll see one somewhere. You’ll see something in the sky. On that day, every hour an F-15 flew by, which was supposedly a patrol watching.

How do you think America has changed in this post 9/11 world?
I remember actually saying on that day to some people that life as we know it has changed today. We knew it when it happened. We knew something bad happened with this terrorist attack. All the details are still no unfolded as to exactly what went on. We knew we weren’t in a safe world anymore and that we have to watch and look. Just to the sheer fact that it happens today where I look over where those towers were and I can’t show my kids the towers. What is really important is that I can show them the Freedom Tower now, I see it. I think that’s really important now to say yes, we got attacked, yes, it’s not a safe world, yes, we are dealing with a crazy terrorist enemy, but now we have a Freedom Tower to look at. 


Below is an interview with  Maria Yerovi. At the time of the attacks she was 36 years old and working as a pediatrician. Here is is her 9/11 experience:

Interview with Maria Yerovi:

Before we begin tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Maria Yerovi, I am 48 years old. I am the mother of five children. I went to Union Catholic High School and graduated in 1982. I went to college at Bucknell University and then went to UMDNJ for medical school to become a pediatrician.

If you recall, what was security like in airports before 9/11?
It was very lax.

What was your occupation during the year 2001?
I was a physician.

What were your plans for the day of September 11, 2001?
I was going to the hospital to check on the newborns and then to my private practice to work office hours.

Do you remember anything about the day?
It was sunny and bright. It wasn’t hot, it wasn’t cold. It was just nice weather.

Was everything normal about your morning?
Yes, everything was absolutely normal.

What was your morning routine that day?
I was on my way to Mountainside Hospital in Glenn Ridge. Then one of the nurses said to me Dr. Yerovi, “A plane hit one of the towers.” I thought, wow that’s weird. So we turned on the news and then I just went about with my morning. I checked on the babies and then the nurses started talking and began thinking this was a terrorist attack, because they didn’t think it was an accident.

Did you see either tower collapse?
Yes, I was leaving the hospital and I was driving on the back-roads, near the Highlawn Pavilion, which has the best of the New York skyline and I saw one of the towers smoking. Then, suddenly, a big ball of smoke occurred. I didn’t know what was happening.

What was your immediate reaction?
I was scared, because my husband was in Jersey City going to New York. I was scared that he might have been there, because I knew he had a meeting by the towers.

After you found out that the towers were hit, and later the Pentagon, and then the other plane crashing into a field in Pennsylvania…what did you do?
I stayed at work. I worked the whole day. I tried to cope with the day and the chaos at the office.

When did you start getting phone calls from your patients?
I got some that day, and the week following. That day, there were a couple fathers of my patients who had died. It was actually the company, I don’t recall the name at the moment, that had lost the most people, and I had four fathers of patients who died as a result of that.

How many phone calls would you say there were?
It’s hard to say, definitely more than usual.

Can you please describe some of the phone calls?
It was mostly questions from mothers. Some of the questions were, “How do I tell my son that his father is not coming home when I can’t even handle it myself?” “How do I tell my kids who are afraid to go to school that this isn’t something that happens all of the time?” “How do I get my child to not be fearful of planes?” “How do I get my child to not be afraid of life?”

At what time did you pick your kids up from school?
They spent the whole day at school.

What did you do for the rest of the day?
When I got home, I hugged my kids. Then, I watched the news.

How do you think America has changed in this post 9/11 world?
It has definitely gotten more cautious and aware. I think security, especially treats everything with suspicion. 

View of the Manhattan skyline from the Highlawn Pavillion.  

  
For more information about the attacks on September 11th:


"9/11 Memorial Timeline." 9/11 Memorial Timeline. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.
"9/11: Timeline of Events." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.
"9/11 Tribute Center." 9/11 Tribute Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.
"Remembering 9/11." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.
"9/11 Attacks Timeline in Pictures." ChicagoTribune. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.
 


1 comment:

  1. It was nice to hear two stories from the ones who weren't directly effected by 9/11 but certainly have their own unique stories that are still a huge aspect of this tragic day. Also it's weird that you entitled your page "It was the Most Perfect Day" because that is literally how my parents describe 9/11 as well. I think the weather was the silver lining of this tragic day. Great job, Cristina :)

    ReplyDelete